It used to be that Darlene Love knew exactly where she would be on a certain late December afternoon: New York City, at the Ed Sullivan Theatre, taping “Late Night with David Letterman” and singing “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).” It did it 28t straight year, but with Letterman gone …

“Chris Botti: Trumpet Humbug.” That’s Chris Botti talking about himself and Christmas, specifically referring to what he and his septet will not be playing during the two shows he’s doing at the Wilbur Theatre this month. ‘Tis the season for you-know-what and though the world’s most popular trumpeter did release …

Peter Prescott, recently put out the plea to fund his synth-noise-skronk band Minibeast via Kickstarter, and was able to report that they met their Dec. 22 goal. They offered a number of incentives should you deign to part with some cash to keep the beast growing and growling. He’s joked that …

Warren Zanes, who used to live and toil in these parts as a Del Fuegos guitarist, has been spending a bit of time in his old stomping ground of late, doing readings touting his best-selling bio, “Tom Petty: The Biography.” His next one is at Wayne Valdez’s Store 54 in …

As misunderstandings and misjudgments continue to tear the world apart, it may be comforting to know that it is still possible to lose yourself in a drama of another kind and, in so doing, to find universal life lessons that, even after centuries, may still bring people together. One profound …

There was a time when I got turned on to new rock ‘n’ roll bands by cool magazines like Creem, Rock Scene, Trouser Press, Circus, Fusion and Crawdaddy. Radio was crap where I was growing up, just top 40 really, and these mags, and the great critics there exposed me …

In the same way that Stephane Grappelli brought the violin to Jazz, Jean-Luc Ponty pioneered the instrument in the world for Rock. Though he originally studied classical violin (as it was the only option at the time) in Paris, Ponty quickly began to partner with such progressives as John Lewis, …

Say this about the Zombies: They were ahead of the curve. We live in a world where you can’t turn on the TV or go to a multiplex without running into a zombie. Back in 1961, keyboardist-songwriter Rod Argent and singer Colin Blunstone and their mates proved a pretty prescient …

Chandler Travis – Cape Cod’s hardest man in showbiz – is at it again with his big band, the Chandler Travis Philharmonic. They have a new album and a record release gig, which he is going to tell you about. Why? Because Chandler is a clever bastard, a multi-genre jack …

BIO

Jim Sullivan wrote about pop music and other arts for the Boston Globe for 25+ years, with more than 10,000 stories to his credit before leaving in 2005. Since, he has freelanced for the Boston Phoenix, Boston Herald, Where magazine, Boston Common, Yankee magazine online, Time Out Boston, US News & World Report, the Cape Cod Times . He did arts commentary and reporting for WBUR and continues doing guest radio spots on WBZ and WERS. He created jimsullivanink.com in 2006, its purpose being to serve the Boston area with an opinionated guide to arts and events.

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